IJTLD fast-tracked articles

In order to share scientific research of immediate concern as rapidly as possible, The Union is fast-tracking accepted articles from the International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IJTLD) regarding COVID-19 and publishing them in full on our website, prior to their publication in the Journal.

The use of corticosteroids and nebulised bronchodilators in bronchial asthma is a major concern during the COVID-19 pandemic. This letter to the editors looks at several issues that need to be addressed.

Mass wearing of masks would help to maximise the effect of social distancing in slowing down the exponential growth of the epidemic, and allow sufficient time to reinforce our health care facilities and salvage countless lives.

In developing a response to the threat of SARS-CoV-2 infection, which is stretching hospital services worldwide to their limits, it is easy to lose sight of the importance of essential primary healthcare.

Cas report showing that a minimally symptomatic COVID-19 patient may still be contagious, and that the residual lung injury and lung function impairment can last for more than 1 month. Follow-up evaluation is necessary for COVID-19 patients regardless of the severity of symptoms.

African countries should think ahead to the data that will be needed in their health facilities for monitoring COVID-19 and how best this can be collected. This will go some way to helping health services cope with the pandemic.

Contact investigation is an important strategy to detect and isolate infection sources and reduce continuing transmission. In this letter the authors propose a strategy for SARS-CoV-2 screening and contact tracing in settings with low levels of community transmission.

The changes introduced to combat COVID-19 (i.e. restricted movement and change in role of TB hospitals) are a major barrier to patients with TB symptoms seeking health care, with an inevitable delay in diagnostics. The prolonged time spent indoors further accelerates its transmission among household contacts.

COVID-19 is increasingly the top differential diagnosis in any person with a fever and/or cough regardless of duration, leading to a prompt chest radiograph and isolation of at-risk patients with testing of SARS CoV-2. While such practices mitigate the outbreak, we urge the medical community not to forget other communicable diseases, where appropriate, in the differential diagnoses of patients.

Complementary COVID-19 and TB responses can assist in curbing both epidemics to save lives. Both diseases can utilise the capacity building efforts, along with surveillance and monitoring systems, programmes and infrastructures, diagnostic tools, case-finding strategies and infection control measures and many other lessons to quickly curb the spread.

Health authorities worldwide have advised that face masks are somewhat effective in limiting the spread of infection when worn by a person who is infected with COVID-19 but do not protect a person who is not infected. However, authors of this editorial argue that face masks, when used systematically in a community, do help slow the spread of the virus.

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